The Warriors guard attempted his first shot with 5:19 left in the first quarter, a long shot-less period for a player of his caliber.

Curry got to the free-throw line with 7:01 left in the opening period, but that’s still nearly five minutes before his first attempt of any kind.

Matthew Dellavedova and Iman Shumpert denied Curry the ball and guarded him well later in the game, though they didn’t have to do much to start. Curry rarely aggressively sought the ball nor aggressively attacked once he had it. By the time Curry took his first shot, Klay Thompson was already 4-for-6.

Taking six minutes and 41 seconds to hoist his first shot was his second-longest wait of the season:

Game

Minutes before first shot

05/11/2015 at MEM

8:30

06/07/2015 vs. CLE

6:41

03/02/2015 at BRK

5:45

12/30/2014 vs. PHI

5:24

10/29/2014 at SAC

4:31

05/13/2015 vs. MEM

4:27

01/13/2015 at UTA

4:10

03/27/2015 at MEM

4:09

01/25/2015 vs. BOS

4:01

04/13/2015 vs. MEM

3:54

11/08/2014 at HOU

3:51

03/08/2015 vs. LAC

3:39

11/26/2014 at ORL

3:37

12/16/2014 at MEM

3:34

12/27/2014 vs. MIN

3:21

02/06/2015 at ATL

3:19

04/02/2015 vs. PHO

3:16

03/31/2015 at LAC

3:16

01/07/2015 vs. IND

3:09

02/07/2015 at NYK

3:04

03/28/2015 at MIL

3:00

05/23/2015 at HOU

2:57

11/30/2014 at DET

2:54

02/20/2015 vs. SAS

2:47

01/21/2015 vs. HOU

2:47

04/25/2015 at NOP

2:36

11/09/2014 at PHO

2:33

11/11/2014 vs. SAS

2:32

03/20/2015 vs. NOP

2:29

03/18/2015 vs. ATL

2:27

03/11/2015 vs. DET

2:27

04/07/2015 at NOP

2:25

12/23/2014 at LAL

2:23

03/14/2015 vs. NYK

2:22

12/02/2014 vs. ORL

2:22

11/16/2014 at LAL

2:22

05/19/2015 vs. HOU

2:21

04/05/2015 at SAS

2:20

04/20/2015 vs. NOP

2:18

03/06/2015 vs. DAL

2:17

04/23/2015 at NOP

2:16

02/24/2015 at WAS

2:16

12/18/2014 vs. OKC

2:16

03/04/2015 vs. MIL

2:12

02/03/2015 at SAC

2:07

02/26/2015 at CLE

2:06

02/04/2015 vs. DAL

2:03

05/03/2015 vs. MEM

2:00

01/27/2015 vs. CHI

1:57

03/09/2015 at PHO

1:55

05/05/2015 vs. MEM

1:54

11/21/2014 vs. UTA

1:54

01/17/2015 at HOU

1:52

12/22/2014 vs. SAC

1:52

04/15/2015 vs. DEN

1:45

12/10/2014 vs. HOU

1:44

02/11/2015 at MIN

1:42

01/14/2015 vs. MIA

1:40

11/05/2014 vs. LAC

1:32

01/16/2015 at OKC

1:29

12/13/2014 at DAL

1:28

12/08/2014 at MIN

1:28

03/23/2015 vs. WAS

1:27

01/19/2015 vs. DEN

1:25

12/04/2014 vs. NOP

1:24

05/25/2015 at HOU

1:22

04/09/2015 vs. POR

1:17

11/01/2014 vs. LAL

1:16

11/28/2014 at CHO

1:14

03/21/2015 vs. UTA

1:11

12/06/2014 at CHI

1:10

01/30/2015 at UTA

1:09

12/25/2014 at LAC

1:08

04/18/2015 vs. NOP

1:06

11/02/2014 at POR

1:04

12/14/2014 at NOP

1:02

03/24/2015 at POR

1:00

06/04/2015 vs. CLE

0:55

11/25/2014 at MIA

0:48

11/23/2014 at OKC

0:46

02/27/2015 at TOR

0:45

01/09/2015 vs. CLE

0:45

01/05/2015 vs. OKC

0:45

05/21/2015 vs. HOU

0:44

04/11/2015 vs. MIN

0:44

01/23/2015 vs. SAC

0:41

11/13/2014 vs. BRK

0:39

03/01/2015 at BOS

0:38

01/02/2015 vs. TOR

0:38

04/04/2015 at DAL

0:37

05/09/2015 at MEM

0:32

05/15/2015 at MEM

0:20

05/27/2015 vs. HOU

0:19

02/09/2015 at PHI

0:19

01/31/2015 vs. PHO

0:17

03/16/2015 vs. LAL

0:16

11/15/2014 vs. CHO

0:14

The only time Curry took longer to hoist his first shot was Game 4 against the Grizzlies – when Curry scored 33 points on 11-of-22 shooting, including 4-of-9 on 3-pointers, to lead the Warriors to a win. So, there’s obviously no perfect correlation.

However, given Curry’s struggles throughout Game 2 – he shot 5-for-23, including 2-for-15 on 3-pointers – I wonder whether there’s something to this.

I’m not sure whether a delayed first shot was a cause or symptom. But I’m curious whether the Warriors will do anything to get Curry going earlier in Game 3 tonight.

While other factors have been at play — the Cavaliers have played quality defense on Curry with Iman Shumpert and Matthew Dellavedova — Curry has hit contested shots all season. Then he was 1-of-9 on uncontested shots in Game 2.

“Uh, no. that had nothing to do with it,” (Curry) said of the head contusion correlation. “I felt good … I feel fine. Just got to shoot better.”

“No, he’s fine physically, and shots come and go,” Kerr said when asked about the possible correlation. “As I said, we could have done a better job offensively of getting him some rhythm. Hopefully we can do that tonight, but it’s all part of the process. Nobody would say a word (about Curry’s slump) if it was the regular season. But it’s not, so the focus is on that. He’ll make them. He always does.”

Of course, those two are going to say there is no connection, what else are they going to say?

The reason I have trouble buying the fall and shooting slump are related: There was a week off between the end of the Houston series and the Finals, then two more games off between Games 1 and 2. That’s a long time to rest a sore body. I think it’s just a combo of good defense and him not finding shots in rhythm.

That’s Dan Gilbert, the owner of Cleveland Cavaliers poking a little fun at the defense of Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green on LeBron James. He did so with a decent use of humor.

Of course, if we said Matthew Dellavedova wanted a Stephen Curry jersey every time he grabbed ahold of it trying to slow Curry off picks this series Delly would have at least a dozen through two games. It’s the Finals and the Cavaliers have effectively turned this into a grit and grind series, so there’s going to be clutching and grabbing.

If you don’t want the referees to make crucial calls late in the game, play better earlier in the game and take it out of their hands.

If the Cavaliers don’t blow a late double-digit lead, there wouldn’t have been an overtime where the officials had to make tough calls. The same principle applies to the Warriors — try hitting your shots first. The officials have not decided these games.

LeBron James has been incredible through the first two games of these NBA Finals, even for him.

After going for 44 points, eight rebounds and six assists in Game 1, James followed that up with 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists in the Game 2 victory, while playing an incredible 50:20 of a possible 53 minutes.

There are many motivating factors for him to lead his team to a title which seem to be obvious. James is trying to cement his legacy as one of the greatest to ever play this game, and rings are certainly relevant in any of those arguments.

There’s the whole Cleveland angle, the fact that James returned home specifically to bring the city its first major professional sports championship of the modern era.

After saying that he didn’t “need any extra motivation,” James hinted at secret factors that are driving him after the Cleveland Cavaliers tied the best-of-seven series against the Golden State Warriors at one game apiece with a 95-93 overtime victory Sunday night.

“My motivation is to make sure my guys are ready and prepared every night we step on the floor,” James said. “And I have some other motivation that I won’t talk about right now, but I have so many different things to worry about than being an underdog or guys counting us out.” …

So what could it be?

“I hope we win so I can tell y’all,” the two-time Finals MVP said when pressed by reporters.

Stephen Curry won the MVP award this year, even though James is widely-regarded as the game’s best player, so maybe that’s it. James wouldn’t want to discuss something like that at this stage while going up against Curry, for fear of slighting him in some way that could potentially become a distraction.